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Kurgan

Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus. These are mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology.
The word kurgan ‘funerary mound’, is, as well as Central Asia and Anatolia used in Russia and Ukraine, but throughout South-Eastern Europe, from Tatar, Tat., Osm., Kum. kurgan, Old Turkic kurgan "fortification", Kirg. and Jagat. korgan, Karakirg. korgon, all from Turkotat. kurgamak "fortify", kurmak "erect".
The distribution of such tumuli in Eastern Europe corresponds closely to the area of the Pit Grave or Kurgan culture in South-Eastern Europe.
Kurgans were built in the Eneolithic, Bronze, Iron, Antiquity and Middle Ages, with old traditions still active in Southern Siberia and Central Asia. Kurgan cultures are divided archeologically into different sub-cultures, such as Timber Grave, Pit Grave, Scythian, Sarmatian, Hunnish and Kuman-Kipchak.
A plethora of placenames that include the word "kurgan" appear from Lake Baikal to the Black Sea.